Zuhpuh!
by ShadesofImagination
Summary: Angeal should have taken his allergies into account before opening a flower shop... That's okay though, the 'zuh-puh' and the blond delivering it made it all worth it. One-shot. For KittenFair! AU Fluff.


**A/N: I've officially named my writer's block after Angeal. He's so hard to write. **

**Anyway, this is for KittenFair who is sick! No! Her favorite pairing is Angeal/Zack but I could not think of a single thing to make sneezing cute with them! They all involved a swimming pool and water noodles. :( So, this was born. I hope you still enjoy it either way.**

**Rating:K+**

**Warnings: Copious amounts of fluff.**

...

...

**Zuh-puh!**

Angeal Hewley hated nothing. He believed there was some good to be found in everything; fortunate or unfortunate circumstances alike.

Except sneezing.

He _hated_ sneezing with a passion to rival the one Genesis held for _Loveless_.

For what was possibly the seven hundredth time that day- or what felt like it at least-, Angeal sneezed.

Loudly.

He glanced down at the bouquet of wild flowers held in his hand and sighed. Being a florist was wonderful- he even got to grow some of the flowers he sold which was just another perk. The decision to become one upon leaving the military was instantaneous; his life long dream finally come true.

A life long dream that unfortunately didn't take into account his apparent allergies.

Still, Angeal thought as he tied the red ribbon holding the flowers in place, it could have been worse.

He could have swelled up like a balloon, or gotten a rash of some sort.

As he was tossing another tissue into the waste bin, the bell over the door jingled merrily and he turned, placing a gentle smile on his face. "Welcome, how can I help you?"

A blond young man shuffled forward, gripping a satchel that was slung over one shoulder. He turned pale blue eyes to Angeal and flushed a brilliant shade of pink. "I need a flower," he mumbled quietly once he stopped at the front counter.

He smiled down at the younger- obviously embarrassed- man. "For your girlfriend?"

Blue eyes widened and the blond shook his head roughly. "No, sir." His words were choppy and slow, and Angeal had to wonder if Common was his first language.

He was about to question what color, and perhaps kind, of flower he was looking for when his nose twitched and he felt his eyes begin to water. He raised a finger in apology and turned swiftly, yanking a tissue out of the box just in time to catch his latest fit of sneezing. When they finally subsided, he sighed in relief and tossed the soiled rag away. He turned to find his newest customer looking up at him, nose wrinkled in concern.

"I apologize," Angeal said, forcing a smile. "What color and type would you prefer?"

Apparently, the young man didn't know a thing about flowers. The next hour was spent leading him around the shop and subjecting him to an impromptu lesson in flora.

By the time the blond finally left, a yellow rose in his grasp, Angeal had decided that shy little smile was really rather fetching.

...

The next day found Angeal in a similar situation. A tissue was once again placed to his face when the bell of the door jingled and he turned, meeting familiar blue eyes he thought he wouldn't see again.

The blond from the day before was holding a small brown thermos and looking decidedly nervous- that shy smile Angeal had managed to coax from him gone.

"Here," the younger muttered, shoving the thermos into Angeal's hands quickly. "My ma used to make me tea when I had the sniffles."

Angeal looked down at the thermos, noting a large 'C' drawn on one side, and smiled. When he looked up, the other man was already pushing the door open. "You're from the mountains?" He questioned, the heavy accent catching up with him.

Blue eyes blinked back at him owlishly and that charming blush came over pale cheeks. "_Ja_."

...

Once again, Angeal was sneezing. This time, he was also scowling.

The last customer, a woman in a bright red dress that was far too top heavy to be in such a piece of apparel, had turned her nose up at him when he apologized for his momentary sneezing fit. _Then _she'd promptly demanded he use hand sanitizer on himself, the flowers, and everything on the counter before he even spoke to her again while giving a lecture on the proper respect for a lady.

Evidently he was not supposed to sneeze in front of her.

Or cough.

Or frown.

Secretly, he hoped that sanitizer killed her flowers before she even got down the block.

Angeal blinked, his scowl turning into a frown at himself. He was usually above such thoughts...Genesis must have been finally wearing off on him.

Which was just another reason to frown. He would need to work on that.

The bell over his door jingled again and, with a sigh, he looked up.

The blond from the last two days was standing in the doorway, clutching a brown paper bag to his chest. He shuffled to the counter and set it down, sliding it carefully toward Angeal.

"_Suppe_," The younger man said, gesturing at the bag.

Angeal arched a dark brow and dipped his hand in, pulling out a plastic container filled with a warm brown liquid. "Zuh-puh?"

The blond's cheeks flamed and he shifted his grip on the satchel. "Uh...soup?" The word was mangled by the thick accent and Angeal had to bite back the urge to ruffle the blond spikes.

_~Far too cute...~_

He mentally slapped himself. He didn't even know the other's name, let alone his age. He barely looked sixteen for Planet's sake!

Angeal cleared his throat. "Ah. Why did you bring me soup?"

The blond cocked his head to one side, looking slightly confused. "That is what you eat when you have a cold."

"A cold?"

"_...ja_?"

"I don't have a cold." He watched as the blue eyes widened in surprise, then the blond dipped his head, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"Sorry."

Confused, Angeal looked down at him. ...he'd brought his florist _soup_? That...was touching. In a rather strange, mountain man in the big city kind of way.

"What's your name?"

"Cloud," the younger man replied, looking up hesitantly.

"Cloud, thank you. But I just have allergies."

"Too...the flowers?"

He nodded, chuckling a bit at Cloud's obvious confusion.

"Then why the hell are you a florist?"

Angeal was slightly taken aback by the volume of Cloud's voice. Having only heard him mumble quietly, hearing him at a regular volume was almost startling. His accent was surprising and rough; most likely the reason he was so quiet normally. "I love flowers."

Cloud seemed to think that over, his blush fading slowly. He raked a hand through the blond spikes and looked around the shop. Seeming to come to a decision, he sighed and turned back to Angeal. "I need a flower."

"Another yellow rose?"

"...which would you choose?"

Used to customers asking, he shrugged. "An orchid or a white daisy; both are rather gentle."

Cloud nodded. "A daisy, please."

The florist smiled at him and set about wrapping the single flower, still pondering why Cloud would have bothered to bring him soup. He chided himself internally. There were still good people in this world, Cloud was probably just one of them- he seemed sweet enough.

_~Grow up_, he snapped at himself. _You're acting like Genesis mooning over that silver haired librarian.~_

"There you go," he said with a smile, brushing aside his thoughts and placing the flower on the counter.

Cloud placed a folded card on top of the flower and nodded once. "Can you deliver it to the address?" Without waiting for a reply, he dropped the proper amount of gil on the counter and was out the door, jogging away down the street.

Angeal blinked after him.

He didn't deliver.

Not after that fiasco with the pup anyway.

He directed his gaze back to the flower he'd just wrapped and slid the card off.

His eyes widened when he found his name written in blocky print on the top. How...had Cloud known his name? Deftly, he flipped open the envelope and pulled out a plain white card. A name and number were printed along the top along with four words.

_Cloud Strife_

_xxx-xxx-xxxx_

_Dinner and a movie?_

His smile didn't fade until his nose twitched in that familiar way and he found himself diving for the tissues- once again.

...

"Did ya do it?"

Cloud sighed, dropping into the cherry red booth. Zack was late, again. Not that this was unusual in any way, but he really didn't feel like being questioned by both of his friends at separate times- especially since Zack was bringing a guest today; some guy that mentored him last semester.

He glanced up at Reno and smirked at him.

Really, the diner's uniform fit him too perfectly. Though, Cloud had been a little scared of the idea of Reno on skates in a public place at first. The pink apron and matching sailor hat made it worth it though.

"_Ja_," he said, resting an elbow on the counter. "He probably thinks I'm a creep."

"No way, Cloudy. You gave him the soup. _The_ soup, man. That stuff is to die for."

"Whatever, we'll talk at home."

He couldn't help but smile at Reno's comment about his cooking, even as Zack Fair walked into the building, grinning widely and talking to a man that was holding the door open for him.

"Yo! Over here!" Reno called out, waving his order book wildly. The other occupants all shook their heads, used to their waiter's strange ways. Cloud raised a hand to wave at their room-mate as well when he caught sight of Zack's guest and froze.

Slate grey eyes widened as they locked with his own blue ones and Cloud felt his face heat up as Angeal Hewley stared at him.

...of all the people for Zack to bring he had to bring _the florist_?

Oblivious to the tension in the room, Zack grabbed Angeal's hand and drug him over to their usual booth, flopping down across from Cloud.

"Hey, Spike! This is Angeal, the guy I was telling you about."

"The soup was amazing," Angeal blurted out, taking on his own blush when Cloud choked on the water he'd just taken a sip of.

When he stopped coughing, Cloud gave him a weak smile. "Y-you're...welcome?" He scowled at himself, not for the first time wondering why a 'w' always came out a 'v'.

"And yes."

"Yes?" Zack questioned, glancing back between the two.

"Really?"

"Yes," Angeal repeated, ignoring the over grown pup at his side. "I'd love to."

"What the hell is goin' on, yo?"

Cloud blinked up at Reno, having forgotten the redhead was even standing there. He gave Zack an equally owlish look. "Angeal is a florist...one that's allergic to flowers."

Reno's mouth dropped open, staring wide eyed at the man Zack had brought in. _That_ was the florist Cloudy was going all gooey eyed over for the last four months?

"You're _the florist_?" He sputtered. "_You're _the one blondie's been babbling about this whole time?"

"Reno!"

"What!" Zack yelped, knocking his knees against the table and tipping over a glass of water in his apparent haste to grab Cloud. "You're in love with 'Geal?"

"Pup!"

It was then that Cloud noticed the silent room and glanced around, finding all eyes locked on their table. His face flamed and he dropped his head, hiding behind pale bangs.

Angeal bit his lip, at the embarrassment that crossed Cloud's features.

Decision made, he stood, knocking Reno out of the way and shaking Zack's grip from his arm. He leaned over, grabbed Cloud's shirt collar and pulled him up. The younger let out a startled squeak, eyes widening. He ignored Zack's sputtering and Reno's cheers, instead completely focused on the warm body in front of him.

"Cloud, how old are you?"

"T-twenty."

"Thank Gaia," the man muttered. "How about that movie?"

He could feel Angeal's breath on his face and see the darker flecks of gray in his eyes. Somehow, he managed to nod dumbly. He felt Angeal let out a relieved sigh and then the man smiled at him.

Right before pulling him forward into the softest kiss he'd ever received.

...

"How did you know my name?"

Cloud choked again, this time on the popcorn he'd been chewing. He took a quick sip of the water Angeal had insisted on and cleared his throat. "Uh, I work at the library. Seph said you come to tend the apple tree in the back once a week...he looked up who you were for me..."

A scream came from the screen and went ignored.

The two were seated in an empty theater, Cloud's legs thrown over the back of the seat in front of him and leaning against Angeal's side.

He heard Angeal hum softly in reply. "Seph?"

"_Ja_, long silver hair, glasses, really tall."

"You know him?"

"He lives across the hall from Reno, Zack and I."

Angeal snorted, he would have to make a note to mention that his room mate was romantically inclined toward Cloud's friend. However, that could wait.

"Four months?"

He heard Cloud groan but the blond nodded, mumbling something in a language Angeal didn't know. It sounded rather menacing though and he assumed it was directed at Reno. "Why didn't you ever come in before a couple days ago?"

He was sure he hadn't missed Cloud...there was no way to forget those wild spikes.

"...I had to learn the language."

"What?" He blinked down at the top of Cloud's head. He'd had to learn the _language_? "You did that in four months?"

"Two. I was nervous."

"Two months...and the first thing you did was give me soup?"

If he could properly see Cloud, he was sure his ears would have been pink. "Well, you were sneezing! So I assumed you were sick and sick people need...soup." He said the last word slowly, drawing out the vowels and wrinkling his nose.

He did not like the word 'soup'.

"It was good Zuh-puh."

Cloud snorted, shifting to look up at Angeal's darkened face. "Perhaps I should teach you a language now, _ja_?"

"Let's save that for the second date."

...

The next morning, Angeal found a short blond angel standing in front of his shop, another thermos- this one blue and with an 'A' on it- in his hand and a soft, shy smile on his lips. The thermos was pressed to his chest lightly and he took it with a chuckle.

This time when Cloud came in, Angeal was proud to note that he didn't sneeze once- much to Cloud's personal disappointment. Something the florist was rather shocked to note when the younger man voiced it out loud.

He was _not _cute when he was sneezing.

Cloud gave him a quick kiss and a promise that he would find out if Seph was interested in anyone.

There were still no sneezes and Cloud bit back the urge to pout, finally having to leave.

Angeal smiled, giving a light wave and calling out a reminder that dinner was a six and to not be too afraid of Genesis. He laughed openly when Cloud scowled at him, once again mumbling in that odd language.

He continued to laugh until his nose started twitching two minutes later.

With an exasperated growl he grabbed for the tissues, slapping one against his face just in time.

No, he was definitely not _cute _when he was sneezing...

...

**Feel better. :)**


End file.
